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Biden, at 77, the oldest Democratic nominee in history, must “deliver his vision for older Americans” at an event in the north Miami city of Pembroke Pines, his campaign said.
FILE: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on the campaign trail. Image: AFP
WASHINGTON – Joe Biden heads to Florida on Tuesday to woo the elderly Americans who helped elect Donald Trump four years ago, but this time he appears to be leaning toward the Democratic White House nominee amid the US pandemic. coronavirus.
Biden, at 77, the oldest Democratic nominee in history, “will deliver his vision for older Americans” at an event in the north Miami city of Pembroke Pines, his campaign said.
The former vice president’s visit to Florida comes a day after Trump held a “Make America Great Again” rally in the Sunshine State, the first since his hospitalization for COVID-19.
Unlike Biden’s small socially estranged gatherings, thousands of supporters packed the airport runway for the president’s return to the election campaign.
Trump, 74, will host a rally Tuesday night in Pennsylvania followed by visits this week to Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia as part of a frantic effort to regain ground on Biden, who leads by double digits in the national surveys. .
Iowa and Georgia were two states Trump won comfortably in 2016, but polls show tight races in both three weeks before the Nov.3 election.
Florida and her 29 Electoral College votes went to Trump in 2016, helping fuel his surprising victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Americans over 65 favored Trump over Clinton by a margin of 53% to 45%, according to the Pew Research Center and exit polls.
But the latest polls show a drastic shift from Trump among seniors this time, driven in large part by his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken a disproportionate toll on seniors.
A recent NBC / Wall Street Journal poll had Biden leading Trump among seniors by 27 points (62% to 35%), while a CNN / SSRS poll saw him rise 21 points among Americans 65 years or more (60% to 39%).
A poll of Florida likely voters released Tuesday by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) gave Biden a 51-47% lead in the state.
“Joe Biden continues to compete better for high-level voters than Hillary Clinton in 2016, and that could be the difference in Florida,” said Kevin Wagner, professor of political science at FAU.
Forty-four percent of those surveyed said Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis was good or excellent, while 50% said it was bad or terrible.
LOWER THE HEAT
Trump, who called older people his “favorite people in the world” after he was discharged from the hospital and promised “the same care I received,” brushed aside the polls at his rally Monday night.
“Twenty-two days from now, we’re going to win this state, we’re going to win four more years in the White House!” he said.
Trump also continued to try to portray Biden as too old and unfit for office, noting a time Monday when he seemed unable to remember the name of Mitt Romney, the Republican senator from Utah, and wrongly said he was running for the Senate. .
“Sleepy Joe Biden had a particularly bad day today,” Trump tweeted. “He didn’t remember Mitt Romney’s name, said again that he was running for the United States Senate and forgot what state he was in.”
“If I did any of this, it would be disqualifying. With him, it’s just Sleepy Joe!”
Meanwhile, Romney called on both campaigns and the country at large to “lower the pressure”, saying “anger leads to a very bad place.”
Romney, the only Republican senator who voted to convict Trump during his impeachment earlier this year, said he was “concerned about our policy.”
“It has moved from a lively debate to a vile, insulting and hateful swamp that is unbecoming of any free nation, let alone the birthplace of modern democracy,” he said in a statement.
Romney condemned Trump for calling the Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris a “monster” and for urging the “Justice Department to jail the former president.”
“The Democrats launch their own searing attacks, even though their presidential candidate refuses to lower himself as much as the others,” he said.
“The world is looking at America in abject horror,” Romney added. “It is time to lower the temperature. Leaders must tone down.”
Meanwhile, Texas became the latest state to start early voting, which has been taking place at a “record pace” so far in states that allow it, according to Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who tracks early voting.
According to McDonald’s US Elections Project, voters have cast 11.49 million ballots so far in states reporting early voting.
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